A good number of members turned out to hear about WWOOFING.  In a nutshell, people come and stay on your smallholding and work in exchange for food and lodging.  Both Debra and Patty have had wwoofers to help out, and their overall experience has been very positive.  It costs £30.00 to register as a host, and you pick the times of work, the days and the individuals after they have applied to work for you. 

Patty also gave us a tour of Bridge Farm, and explained the methods of cheese making and goat keeping.  We had a fine spread of food for lunch, supplied by the members.

Thanks go to Patty for hosting a great meeting.

Well it didn't rain!  

A good turnout of members ensured that the business of running the club was carried out and put in place for the forthcoming year.  Patrick was re-elected Chairman, Debra is still secretary and Chris is now treasurer.  A vote of thanks was passed for those carrying on in role, and for Kim's hard work as Treasurer.  I'm waiting on confirmation of meetings organisers, and the minutes will be on here when they are published.

The meeting was kindly hosted by Chris & Hazel, and the food provided by the members was one of the best spreads I've seen!

I've just checked out the picture and it seems that quite a few members are not shown....they must have gone to get the food!  I did wonder how some were so quick.

MINUTES OF LSSSC AGM 2010.

Held with kind permission of Chris & Hazel Healey

At Ferry Hill Farm, Fiskerton on May  16

Apologies

from Beverlee Bird, Patty Philips, John & Caroline Gunner, Kim & Hamish Wood

Election of Officers

Chairperson....Patrick Britton (carried over)

Membership & Secretary.....Debra Wiltshire (carried over)

Webmaster...Chris Fletcher (carried over)

Venue & Meeting organisers...Tracy Claydon & Sharron Harris (new)

Treasurer...Chris Fletcher (new)

Chairman’s Report

Patrick touched briefly on the last year’s meetings and the continued growth of the club.

He brought up the subject of badges for people to wear at meetings and said that they should be ready for the June meeting. 

Membership Report.

We have now over 74 members, the highest number for some years.  The membership directory was completed and has been distributed to all current members.  It can also now be found on the website.

Webmasters Report

The new website has now been running for 10 months due to the benefit of sponsorship of Farmgate foods.

Finance Report

Due to Kim having stood down as Treasurer, Patrick read the report and we have a healthy

1183.89 in our accounts.

Matters Arising

It was decided that the annual fee of £12.00 was to remain the same.  Any new members joining during the year would pay pro rata.

Equipment..the matter of the group buying a piece of equipment for use by club members was discussed again.  Many members have requested different items such as incubators, chicken pluckers, rotovator, log splitters etc.  Patrick said he would email the group once again to see if there were any new requests and then make a final decision.  The matter of where these items were to be stored was again discussed with no real outcome.   It was proposed that a library of existing kit would be useful.

Courses...It was put forward that the members may be interested attending one certified course each year.  There would be costs involved but subjects put forward were, Food Hygiene Course, Livestock Transport, and Chainsaw use.   Any members who are interested, or have a different course in mind, please contact the club.

 It was also put forward that any speakers at our regular meetings who made a charge,  would be considered.  This would open up a wider range of subjects that could possibly be covered.

Wragby show...it was decided that we would attend the show again after a very successful year in 2009.  Any volunteers, who wish to help, please contact Chris Fletcher who will be co-ordinating the smooth running of the show.

Website... It was proposed that the site needs to be used more and that members would be asked to submit articles of interest.  Chris would be pleased if anyone who attended one of the monthly meetings could write a brief report of what happened.

Advertising...it was agreed that there would be a dedicated page for suppliers who wish to advertise with us, with the committee’s discression.  A link to their website and a brief description of what they offer was suggested.  They would have to be a recommend by one of our members and a discount to be offered.  However, existing active members who wish to advertise things from time to time would still be able to do so either via the round robin email and the website.

Apple Day...it was suggested that on the 3rd October we had an apple day where members could bring their apples over to Ivor Davey for a group pressing .  A donation would be made to help cover his costs.

Patrick and Kim were thanked for their contributions in their respective roles and it was agreed that a card with an offer of a weeding session would be sent to Kim.

At the end of the meeting we all crowded into the kitchen to enjoy a fantastic spread and much gossip.

It's not often that members of the LSSSC are stunned into silence, but that was the response when they were asked by John  Claydon what they would do with acres of greenhouse....

It was all part of the tour of John and Tracey's Nursery near Swineshead.  Areas such as the chick nursery, poultry sales and what must be the largest fully insulated incubator in the world - an old cold store doubling up at the broody coop at the moment!  John and Tracey are holding poultry courses - contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  - and have a wide selection of birds to buy.  I was impressed by the information that was offered to the poultry buyer, and that customers could see the birds at POL and mature stages.

A bumper turn out of members - bought on by the good weather - made for a very convivial lunch.  Tips were swapped and plans made for Spring and beyond.  Thanks go to John and Tracey for a great day out.

And the answers to the question?  From the 40 odd members, most seem to be in agreement that the best thing to do with acres of greenhouse was to have a good think about it over a few cups of tea!

Chris

The snow fell, but the LSSSC meeting still went on.

We met at Tennyson d'Eyncourt Memorial Hall in Tealby for a demonstration of wool spinning by Maureen Turner.  She made it all look so easy!  Her husband Neville sheers the flock of Shetlands, and Maureen spins the wool.  The grading was explained (did you know that the neck is the best bit?) and we had a go.  Thats where it seemed that Maureen was doing one thing, and we were doing something completely different.  Patrick and Chris developed the "Man's Yarn", a seldom seen bobbly creation, in much demand by the fashion houses of Paris I'd like to believe.  Debra was extremely proud of her length of wool.

Images will follow.  Our thanks go to Maureen and Neville for a great talk and the fun that we had trying to copy the expert.